Arteba 2024 + Affair: Everything you need to know about these two art fairs

Towards the end of August, two emblematic spaces in the local art scene converge in Buenos Aires. One is a longstanding tradition, while the other, as an alternative, is gaining increasingly significant ground: arteba 2024 and Affair.

I look forward to this week as I did when I was a child waiting for the Three Kings' gifts. In addition to gaining new insights, discovering new galleries and emerging artists, there’s a spirit of socialization and networking that excites me. Although it might seem that having overlapping fairs—arteba 2024 runs from August 30 to September 1, while Affair takes place from August 29 to September 1—would diminish interest in each, on the contrary, a complementarity and synergy between the two proposals emerges, making art lovers even more enthusiastic.

I also believe it’s fascinating that, in different ways, each fair is aiming for permanence beyond this stellar weekend. Affair, for its part, has a permanent residency at Galerías Larreta, thus becoming a sustained art space. On the other hand, arteba has created the Club arteba, offering its members various special activities throughout the year. This point, along with its overall organization, reflects the efforts of its president, Larisa Andreani, and her team of professionals and institutional collaborators.

"In different ways, each fair is aiming for permanence"

Affair presents its second edition

This time, it brings together 17 galleries in its new and renovated space on the mezzanine floor of Galerías Larreta in Buenos Aires, with free admission. Conceptually, it’s a hybrid space between an exhibition and a group fair, with its spotlight on the weekend of August 29 to September 1, but it will remain open permanently after those dates.

This art fair is organized by Oli Martínez of TokonOMa; Bárbara Echevarría of Acéfala, Nacho Meroni of Wunsch, Buenos Aires; Gab Gabelich of Gabelich Contemporáneo, Rosario; María Belén Wonda of María Wonda, Fernando Ferreyra of Tierra, Córdoba; and Sasha Dávila, who has galleries in Córdoba and Buenos Aires.

The fair also benefits from the curatorship of Analía Solomonoff, and the architect responsible for the new space at Galerías Larreta is Ariel Jacubovich, who was also in charge of the spatial design of the first edition of Affair at the Polo Cultural Saldías.

Oli Martínez, co-organizer of the fair, explains to me that it was created in a “context of crisis for a sector of galleries that used to participate in arteba's Stage sector.” This is an intermediate sector between the space for emerging galleries and the main galleries section of that fair.

"Affair emerged in a context of crisis for a sector of galleries that participated in arteba's Stage sector"

Bárbara Echevarría also shares her perspective: “This is a new format. The art scene across the country is immense, with many galleries and artists, but we face the challenge that the audience interested in acquiring artworks is very small and niche. Therefore, one of our objectives is to create more accessible spaces and new strategies to expand the market.” She explains that it’s essential to change old paradigms, the idea that one space competes with another. “Growth involves enhancing spaces, projects, and working collaboratively. This is a self-managed endeavor, an art fair model that fosters dialogue and allows for a balanced coexistence among actors. We aim to position ourselves as a contemporary and innovative art event that encourages access to new audiences,” she adds.

"We aim to position ourselves as a contemporary and innovative art event that encourages access to new audiences"

Arteba shines in the market for three decades

The 2024 edition will be held at Centro Costa Salguero, featuring over 400 artists represented by 65 galleries from 16 different cities. It is undoubtedly the most prominent art fair in recent years.

Since its inception in 1991, with only two years of absence, the fair has been setting trends for over 30 years, not just locally but also internationally. A case in point: this year, international representatives such as Tania Pardo, curator of the Centro de Arte 2 de Mayo, and Manuel Segade, director of the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía (both from Madrid), will be in attendance. Also present will be Claudia Segura from the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Sharon Lerner from the Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru, and Pablo León de la Barra from the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

The selection of galleries and spaces participating in the 2024 edition was carried out by a committee comprised of Mora Bacal, director of Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte; Carla Barbero and Florencia Malbrán, curators; Amparo Díscoli, director of COSMOCOSA; and Ricardo Ocampo, director of W-Galería. For the third consecutive year, Horacio Torcello has served as the honorary author of the architectural master plan.

All that’s left to say is, enjoy these days full of art!

Where: arteba 2024, Centro Costa Salguero (Avenida Costanera Rafael Obligado 1221). Tickets, here. Affair, Galerías Larreta (Florida 971).